


The Mutual Fascination of Misfits: Sunrise

by offwhxte



Series: Misfits [4]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Older Aaron, Younger Spencer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 19:59:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10704069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/offwhxte/pseuds/offwhxte
Summary: Spencer was roused by two hands pulling him out of bed by his hips.





	The Mutual Fascination of Misfits: Sunrise

Spencer was roused by two hands pulling him out of bed by his hips. He was half-awake by the time he was manually dressed and was being carried out of the hotel room with his arms and legs wrapped around a warm body.  

He rested his cheek on the strong shoulder within reach and commenced his sleep again. He recognized those hands, the scruff that brushed against his forehead as he was awarded a kiss. Spencer began to question, though, when it had been five minutes and he hadn't been placed against the cold leather of Aaron's car seats. 

"Wherearewegoing?" Spencer slurred, lifting his head and opening his eyes, "Aaron?" 

"The beach is a few minutes away," the gravelly voice murmured, warm breath on his neck contrasting the cool sea breeze that blew his mussed hair around on his forehead.  

"What time is it?" It was notably dark outside, and not much bustle. It was definitely morning, though. 

"Six," Aaron replied, moving one of his arms from underneath Spencer to gently brush the nest of hair from his eyes. "You okay?" 

"Yeah," Spencer gave him a tired smile and nuzzled (there it was again) back into the warmth of Aaron's neck. "I trust you." 

The trip was about ten minutes on foot. Spencer was worried about being carried for such a long time, but he figured this was a good time to take advantage of Aaron's hospitality. If he hadn't asked to be carried, it probably meant it wasn't that bad. If he apologized, Aaron would probably get mad, and with good reason. Why did Spencer always have to question his intentions? Shouldn't he just be glad to be cared for? But anyway. That was just Spencer's inclination of what was going on in Aaron's mind.  

Aaron, alternatively, was freaking out. Through his tired, delusional fog, he was thinking of so many things. He'd planned a lot for the night they would watch the sunrise together on an empty beach. He wasn't sure if he could go through with it. He could feel Spencer's body tense when he originally picked him up in the hotel room. If he didn't trust him in picking him up without questioning his intentions, then what would happen if he tried to make a romantic gesture that Spencer had expressed interest in before? How was that going to pan out? They were in a part of town where cabs ran. Spencer could run away if Aaron did something wrong.  

When they got to the pier, Aaron gently set Spencer down on his feet, shedding both his and his partner's shoes. Spencer stumbled in the dark on the stairs he didn't expect, clinging onto Aaron's hoodie and burying his face in the fabric. Aaron wrapped an arm around Spencer's waist, pulling him toward his body and making sure he made it down the steps without falling.  

"Woah," Spencer murmured, his voice deep with sleep as he looked up to Aaron with glistening eyes. "The sand feels nice." 

Aaron halted, "You've never..." 

"No, but mom sends pictures when she goes to the beach," Spencer admitted meekly, tucking his hair behind his ear as he slowly loosened his grip on Aaron, wriggling his toes. "This is really cool. Never considered how it'd feel, being barefoot in sand." 

The older man shook his head and took Spencer's hand. He led him closer to where the tide was retreating and stood directly on the line that the water had made. "Stand beside me. If the sand felt good, wait for the tide to come back." 

Spencer nodded and looked down to his toes, trying to adjust to the darkness. He was able to see his feet and grinned as the water splashed up against him, wetting the ends of his jeans that were rolled up against his knees. "Wow." 

Aaron squeezed his hand and looked up. The ocean was just slightly darker than the sky, meaning the sun was soon to appear. He then turned his head to see Spencer, still looking excitedly at his feet and laughing almost maniacally as the water ghosted over his skin. Spencer's hand involuntarily grasped onto Aaron's as he jumped, and reached down to pick up a shell that had looked like something scary in the dark. Aaron smiled as Spencer held it up in the moonlight, his eyes wide with excitement. "Beautiful." 

"Yeah, it is a nice shell. Did you know that it gets its shape through the evolutionary instinct to--" 

"No," he said gently, taking the hand that held the shell and gently pushed it down. "I was talking about you." 

Spencer's blush was visible through the dark as he ducked his head away, but Aaron hooked a finger under his chin and pulled him back into view. Spencer's eyes traveled over Aaron's face in amused confusion, "What?" 

"You're beautiful, Spencer." 

Spencer's knees felt like giving out, "Aaron..." 

"I don't say things like that often, and I need to change that," Aaron whispered, taking a step forward and eliminating even more space between them. "I should have known since the night we kissed. You were amazed by the fact I commented on your intellect. I refuse to believe no one's complimented you on it before." 

"Well, they... they usually punctuate comments on it with some weird mean names," Spencer said quietly, quirking his lips to the right. "But you don't." 

"Why would I call you a weird, mean name?" Aaron asked. 

Spencer shrugged, but closed his mouth in a smile that Aaron knew was a cue to shut up about it. Aaron was glad to. He crossed his arms, pulling his hoodie over his head and walking back a few meters with Spencer close behind. He laid his jacket down on the sand like a makeshift blanket for Spencer to sit on.  

The sunrise was beautiful. Spencer had never seen one in person before, but Aaron knew that. One night that Diana was out of town, he'd talked until dawn with Spencer about the things he wanted to do before he was Aaron's age. The list was long, as Aaron was expecting, but sometimes the line between achievable in ten years and achievable right then was blurred by Spencer's excitement. Of course, if he mentioned that to Spencer, he might go overboard. The kid had a loose grip on reality sometimes. Which, Aaron admitted, might have explained how they made it onto a beach as the sun came up. 

But regardless, Aaron didn't even watch the sun. He was more interested in all of the emotions that were flickering on Spencer's face, like a presentation of happy feelings that he hadn't seen Spencer express any time they'd been at home. That thought illuminated him. What if it could be like this all the time? 

His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of lips on his own. He fell back in the sand, and Spencer was on top of him immediately, kissing him like it was the last time they'd ever see each other. Aaron pulled away to check for tears, and there were some, but the grin on Spencer's face made the worry fade away.  

"Hey," Aaron chuckled and hugged Spencer close. "You okay, baby?" 

"Yes!" Spencer all but yelled, turning again to look at the explosion of red, orange, and purple before returning his gaze. "I love you." 

"I love you!" Aaron smiled and pecked his nose, "Don't cry, sweetheart. It's okay, I'm here." 

"It's just more beautiful than ever with you here," the younger boy gushed, his eyes wild with excitement. "I just..." 

Aaron raised an eyebrow, "Spencer?" 

"I just don't know how to thank you," Spencer said, his eyes downcast in deep thought before looking up to Aaron. He gave a shy smile and began to reach for Aaron's... _oh._

"No, baby, you don't need to—Spencer! No, it's fine, you don’t..." Aaron tried his best to be coherent, gently tugging at the thin wrist that was attached to a hand that had disappeared beyond the waistband of his jeans. "You can thank me by letting me take you back to the motel, my love." 

Spencer frowned, "Am I not doing it right?" 

"It's not that, I just... I don't want you to feel obligated to do anything. That's not how I want your first experience to be." Aaron tried to pry Spencer's hand again, but Spencer pouted and kept his hand inside. "Spencer..." 

"Warm," he mumbled, finally giving and pulling his hand out. "You can never say I didn't try." 

Aaron felt pain in his chest but tried to shake it off anyway, "Do you want to go back now, or do you want to watch more of the sunrise?" 

"The likelihood that we'll have another bed day like yesterday is low, so can we go get breakfast and have a day out?" Spencer asked. He decided not to finish the sentence with _like you wanted_  and just smiled.  

Aaron grinned and stood, keeping Spencer in his arms and awkwardly putting him down as he heard voices in the distance. "You ready to go, Matthew?" 

Spencer looked confused for a second before recognizing his alias, "Oh! Yes I am... Thomas."


End file.
